This invention relates to a plumbing system for flushing a toilet bowl and, more particularly, to a system having a liquid flow control means for regulating the quantity of liquid utilized in flushing the toilet bowl.
Plumbing systems presently in use for flushing toilets commonly employ a reservoir tank which is connected to a bowl so that, upon initiating a flushing cycle, substantially all of the water in the reservoir is dumped into the bowl under gravity flow, that is, the flushing water is utilized without any appreciable pressure. In general, such systems utilize between three and five gallons of liquid for each flushing cycle. In other arrangements, instead of employing reservoir tanks, a manually actuated flushing valve is installed between a conduit containing liquid under pressure and the flushing pipe. Such flushing valves are generally of the type wherein, once opened, they are held open by mechanical delaying action before closing or are closable in response to a predetermined pressure drop. As a consequence, the quantity of liquid discharged through such a flushing valve is not significantly less than the quantity of liquid consumed where the reservoir type flushing system is employed. Additionally, flushing valves that are presently in use are capable of being continuously operated in much the same fashion as a faucet outlet, thus constituting a further source of water waste.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flushing system wherein a substantially reduced quantity of liquid is required to efficiently operate the system and where a built-in delay mechanism is employed to prevent both continuous flushing as well as repeated, closely spaced restarting of the flushing cycle.